Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist

The Communist Party of
Nepal-Maoist (CPN-M), was formed in 1995 following a split in the Communist
Party of Nepal-Unity Centre. A radical faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal
alias Comrade Prachanda and Baburam Bhattarai set up the CPN-Maoist
and denounced the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist-Leninists
(CPN-UML) and other mainstream communist factions as 'renegades' and
'revisionists' due to their participation in the parliamentary process.
It resorted to an armed struggle on February 13, 1996, by attacking
police stations in the Rukum and Rolpa districts in northwestern Nepal
and thereby declaring a 'People's War' in Nepal.

The CPN-M came overground after the
agreement with the seven Party alliance and has been a part of the Government
in Nepal since then. On January 13, 2009, joint meeting of the central
committees of CPN-Maoist and Communist Party of Nepal-Unity Centre (CPN-Unity
Centre) decided to name the new party as Unified CPN-Maoist (UCPN-M).

Nine years after putting the UCPN-M
on its inventory of world-wide terrorist organizations, the Unites States
removed the party from the list, arguing that the party had demonstrated
a credible commitment to pursuing the peace and reconciliation process
in Nepal. The statement issued by the US government in Washington D.C
on September 6, 2012, read: "The Department of State has revoked the
designation of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and its aliases
as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist entity under Executive Order
13224, and as a "terrorist organization" from the Terrorist Exclusion
List (TEL) under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA)."

Earlier, various communist
groups had actively participated in the People’s Movement of 1989-90
operating under the umbrella organisation of United National People’s
Movement (UNPM). However, after the conclusion of the People’s Movement,
these groups were not satisfied with the multi-party democratic system
under constitutional monarchy. In order to contest the May 1991 elections,
they formed a two-tier organisation, revolutionary front and political
front, known as the Communist Party of Nepal-Unity Centre and United
People’s Front of Nepal (UPFN) respectively. The UPFN emerged as the
third largest group in the Parliament and also performed well in the
local bodies’ elections of 1992. Gradually, however, ideological and
personality clashes led to the disintegration of Unity Centre and the
UPFN split into two factions, led by Nirmal Lama and Niranjan Govind
Vaidiya at one end and Comrade Prachanda and Bhattarai on the other
end. Subsequently, the decision by Prachanda not to participate in the
1994 elections led to the creation of CPN-M in 1995 as an underground
outfit.

Objectives

The Maoists announced a
‘People's War’ on February 13, 1996, with the slogan "let us march
ahead on the path of struggle towards establishing the people's rule
by wreaking the reactionary ruling system of state." They strongly
believe in the philosophy of Mao Tsetung that "Political power grows
out of the barrel of a gun." They also draw inspiration from the ‘Revolutionary
Internationalist Movement’ and Peru's left wing extremist guerilla movement,
the Sendero Luminoso (Shining Path). The radical communist parties from
different parts of the world have provided ideological sustenance for
the Nepali Maoists.

The ‘People's War’ aims to
establish a ‘New Democracy’ in Nepal and constitutes an "historical
revolt against feudalism, imperialism and so-called reformists."
The immediate reason given by the Maoists for declaring the ‘People's
War’ was the failure of the Nepalese Government to respond to a memorandum
presented by its representatives to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba
on February 4, 1996. The memorandum listed 40
demands related to "nationalism, democracy and livelihood". These
included among others the abolition of royal privileges and the promulgation
of a new constitution, and the abrogation of the Mahakali treaty with
India on the distribution of water and electricity and the delineation
of the border between the two countries.

Leadership, Cadre and
Command Structure

The chief of operations
of the CPN-M is its Chairman, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (better known as Comrade
Prachanda). He is also Chairman of the ‘Central Committee’, Member of
‘Standing Committee’ and ‘Supreme Commander’ of the People's Liberation
Army.

Another front ranking leader
Baburam Bhattarai heads the political wing of the Maoists called the
United People’s Front (UPF). Bhattarai alias Lal Singh @ Jitbir @ Mukti
Manab, a ‘Politburo and Standing Committee’ member, is reportedly responsible
for planning and foreign affairs, and was co-ordinator of the dialogue
team in 2003. According to the Nepal Police Website, he is in-charge
of mid central command (since 3rd cc meeting in September 2004).

Mohan Pokharel Vaidya @
Kiran @ Agam, a founder of the party and a ‘Politburo and Standing Committee’
member, is widely reported to be the political ideologue and is also
in-charge of the Kathmandu valley and eastern central command. Another
important Maoist leader is Post Bahadur Bogati @ Diwakar @ Ranadhoj
who serves as a ‘Politburo and Standing Committee’ member and is also
in- charge of the western central command.

The apex military institution
of the Maoists is the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party
of Nepal (Maoists), which was constituted in 1998.

Government estimates provided
in early 2003 on the CPN-M strength indicated that there are approximately
5,500 combatants, 8,000 militia, 4,500 cadres, 33,000 hard core followers,
and 200,000 sympathizers.

The main fighting and support
forces consist of Magars, Tharus, Janjatis (Gurungs, Rais, Limbus, Tamangs,
Dalits, Brahmins and Chhetris, the last two also providing the political
and military leadership). Among the Maoist fighters – about 60 per cent
– are deployed in the mid-west and west in their strongholds. Another
10 per cent are in the far west with around 10 percent in Gorkha, the
rest is located in Kathmandu valley and east of it.

A considerable number of
retired Gurkha soldiers of the British and the Indian Army inhabit many
of the Maoist-affected areas and Nepalese security agencies have suspected
that these former soldiers along with those retired and deserters from
the Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) have/are involved in training the insurgents.

Women have been prominent
in the recruiting profile. Available reports indicate that one-fifth
to one-third of the cadre and combatants may be women. Reportedly, every
village has a revolutionary women’s organisation. According to a Jane’s
Intelligence Review report of October 2001, there are usually two women
in each unit of 35-40 men, and they are used to gather intelligence
and act as couriers. Baburam Bhattarai was quoted as saying in Spacetime
on April 18, 2003, that fifty percent of cadres at the lower level,
thirty percent of soldiers and ten percent of members of central committee
of the outfit were women. Durgha Pokhrel, Chairman of National Women’s
Commission, who visited more than 25 Maoist-affected districts, stated
on July 3, 2003, during a talk delivered at the Nepal Council of World
Affairs that percentage of women cadres could be as high as forty. A
women’s group, the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary), is
alleged to be a front outfit of the CPN-M.

The All Nepal National
Independent Students’ Union (Revolutionary), or ANNISU-R is the student
wing of the Maoists. Its membership comprises students from school to
the university level. The general success in all the strikes called
by ANNISU-R, especially in the educational institutions, (at present
it is also one of the key student organisation in the anti-King agitation)
shows the strong hold of the organisation. According to a report of
June 2003, the ANNISU-R comprises approximately 400,000 members.

Reportedly, weaponry in
their possession include AK-47 rifles, self-loading rifles, .303 rifles,
country guns, hand grenades, explosives, detonators, mortars, and light
machine guns. Nearly 85 per cent of these weapons are reportedly looted
from the police and RNA.

Structurally, the CPN-M
consists of the standing committee at the top, followed by the politburo,
central committee, regional bureaus, sub-regional bureaus, district
committees, area committees, and cell committees. The Politburo issues
directives with the assistance of an approximately 25-member central
committee. The main armed component reportedly consists of six guerrilla
battalions, which launches military action in response to instructions
relayed through their individual chief commissars (one per battalion),
who are central committee members. The politburo and standing committee
reportedly formulate most of the political and strategic policies. The
standing committee, with approximately ten members, is the most powerfully
body in the CPN-M. There are five regional bureaus: eastern, central,
Kathmandu valley, western and international department.

Organisational structure
of the CPN-Maoist

Party

People’s Army

United Front

Standing committee

Central military
commission

United people's district
committees

Politburo

Regional military
commissions

United people's area
committee

Central committee

Sub-regional military
commissions

United people's village
committees

Regional bureaus
(five)

District military
commissions

United people's ward
committees

Sub-regional bureaus
(in some places special sub-regional bureau)

Included in this
are: Temporary battalion

District committees

Companies

Area committees

Platoons

Cell committees

Squads (separate
people's militias also exist under united village people's committees)

The guerrillas operate
to varying degrees in 68 of the 75 districts that comprise Nepal. Their
influence varies between moderate to extreme in these districts. In
the districts of Rolpa, Rukum, Jajarkot, Salyan, Pyuthan and Kalikot
in mid-western Nepal, Government presence is limited to the district
headquarters with the rest of each district under Maoist control. The
Nepalese Home Ministry has designated these districts as 'sensitive
class A'. Nine districts, namely Dolakha, Ramechhap, Sindhuli, Kavrepalanchowk,
Sindhupalchowk, Gorkha, Dang, Surkhet and Achham, are classified as
'Sensitive Class B', while 17 'Sensitive Class C' districts are Khotang,
Okhaldhunga, Udaypur, Makwanpur, Lalitpur, Nuwakot, Dhading, Tanahu,
Lamjung, Parbat, Baglung, Gulmi, Arghakhachi, Bardiya, Dailekh, Jumla
and Dolpa.

The Maoist insurgency initially
commenced in the three districts of Rolpa, Rukum and Jajarkot and eventually
spread throughout Nepal. Maoists have very strong bases in Western and
mid-Western region and partially in Eastern region.

According to the Nepal
Police, the following areas are affected by Maoist violence:

According to available
information, the Maoists of Nepal have well-established linkages with
Indian left-wing extremist organizations, primarily with the People’s
War Group (PWG) and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC). The first signs of
contacts were reportedly registered during 1989-1990, when the two groups
started collaborating in order to expand their influence. Towards this
end, they began the process of laying a corridor, which is now widely
referred to as the Revolutionary Corridor (RC) extending from Nepal
to across six Indian States, including Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand,
Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and Madhya Pradesh. This entire area has been
identified in Maoist literature as the Compact Revolutionary Zone (CRZ).
The CRZ was organized by the Nepal and Indian members of the Naxalite
(the popular term for left-wing extremism in India- the movement originated
in Naxalbari [hence the term Naxal] in the State of West Bengal in the
late 1960s) Movement, in a meeting at Siliguri in the Indian State of
West Bengal during August 2001.

Gradually, the interaction
between Maoist insurgents and the PWG increased with the sharing of
knowledge about guerilla warfare, bomb manufacturing techniques and
arms training. Nepalese Maoists had sent their delegates to the March
2001 Congress of PWG held at Abuz Marh in the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.
The establishment of CRZ gave a wider space and platform for all the
proscribed Nepal and Indian left-wing extremist organizations to strengthen
their bases in both the countries.

The more radical forces
in South Asia, including both the PWG and Nepalese Maoists, are members
of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM). In July 2001,
about 10 extreme Left Wing (Maoist) groups in South Asia formed the
Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organization of South Asia
(CCOMPOSA),
in which the Nepalese Maoists, PWG, MCC, Purbo Banglar Movement (Bangladesh),
Communist Party of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and other Indian left-wing extremist
parties became members. The appearance of graffiti in remote villages
in Naxalite-strongholds, in Rayakal and Mallapur mandals (administrative
unit) of Karimnagar district in Andhra Pradesh, hailing CCOMPOSA points
the spread of the idea of a common front of left-wing extremist groups
in South Asia. Moreover, the Central Committee of the Maoists, in late-January
2002, passed a resolution stating that it would work together with the
PWG and the MCC in fighting the ban imposed on the latter two organisations
in India, under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2002. A year earlier,
in 2001, the Maoists had sent a senior leader named Gaurav as a fraternal
delegate to attend the 9th Congress of the PWG. Reports indicate that
the Maoists and the PWG have also formed the Indo-Nepal Border Region
Committee to coordinate their activities in North Bihar and along the
India-Nepal border.

For quite some time, the
Maoists have also been working closely with the MCC for unification,
consolidation and expansion of Maoist movement in India and across South
Asia. A careful examination of expansion of Naxalite activity in Bihar
in the last two years would reveal that the growing linkages between
the MCC and the Nepali Maoists are part of their larger strategy to
create a 'Compact Revolutionary Zone' stretching across Andhra Pradesh,
Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, and Bihar to Nepal. The porous Bihar-Nepal
border, the general breakdown of rule of law, poor governance and incapacity
of the police force provides a context for these left extremist groups
to operate with ease.

In February 1996, the MCC
Central Committee had reportedly published a paper welcoming the Maoist
movement in Nepal. Reports of April 2000 indicated that the MCC and
Maoists were holding joint training camps in Hazaribagh and Aurangabad.
In September 2000, MCC leader Pramod Mishra is alleged to have visited
Nepal for extensive discussions with Maoist leaders. In December 2001,
the MCC and the PWG, in their joint meetings, held in the Jharkhand
forests, resolved to support the Maoist insurgents in Nepal. In the
same year, the MCC, PWG and Maoists formed an "Indo Nepal Border
Regional Committee" to coordinate their activities in the border
areas.

The porous Bihar-Nepal
border is easily permeable. Bihar has eight districts and 54 police
stations situated on the border. In the recent past, the Bihar police
have arrested a number of Nepalese Maoists in the border districts of
West and East Champaran, Sitamarhi, Sheohar and Madhubani. Taking advantage
of a general breakdown of law and order, the Nepalese Maoists have reportedly
set up bases at several places along the border. Reports indicate the
existence of training camps in the forests of Bagha in the West Champaran
district, which has emerged as a safe haven for the Nepalese insurgents.
The Bihar police also suspect that some top leaders of the Nepalese
Maoists, including Baburam Bhattarai, were/are hiding in Bihar.

Not much is known about
the Maoist links with other militant or left-wing extremist groups operating
in India, besides that they are linked to a few Naxalite groups through
CCOMPOSA. Besides, a left-wing extremist group, the Communist Party
of India––Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) Janashakthi, which has a marginal
presence at least in six Indian States, but is very active in isolated
and limited number of pockets in Andhra Pradesh, expressed support to
the Maoists. It is a co-signatory, along with 41 other left-wing extremist
groups ranging from South America to South East Asia, to resolution
that ‘condemned and opposed the malpractice of the fascist state of
Nepal’ and demanded ‘life security’ for imprisoned Maoist cadres, leaders
and sympathisers.

The Maoists, with the help
of Pakistani Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), have been attempting
to establish links with Naxalite groups such as the PWG and the MCC
by using the Siliguri corridor in West Bengal. Media reports of December
29, 2002, indicated that three members of a Maoist-affiliate, All Nepal
National Free Students' Union-Revolutionary, were arrested at the Siliguri
bus station, while on their way to Bihar to attend a meeting convened
by the PWG.

The growing influence of
Nepalese Maoists in other parts of India was unearthed after four of
its cadres were arrested in West Bengal on February 26, 2003. The arrested
Maoists confessed during interrogation of their plan to use West Bengal
as a corridor between their areas of domination in India and Nepal.
Darjeeling and Siliguri are the important transit routes. Also they
are in a process of consolidating their presence in West Midnapore district,
Bankura and Purulia especially in North Bengal with the help of Kamatapur
Liberation Organisation (KLO).

The substantial population
of nearly eight million Nepali residents in India (primarily in Sikkim,
Darjeeling, Siliguri, Shillong, Dehradun, Himachal Pradesh and Gorakpur-Lucknow
belts) have established a countrywide organization called the Akhil
Bharatiya Nepal Ekta Samaj (ABNES). It was banned under the Prevention
of Terrorism Act (POTA)
in July 2002 by the Government of India. ABNES was registered with the
stated objective of securing unity among immigrant Nepalese residing
in India and working for their welfare. However, it gradually became
involved in subversive activities and began to function as a front for
the Maoist insurgents of Nepal. It is also believed that the organization
is working for the idea of a greater Nepal.

There is also some reportage
about the Nepalese Maoists’ links with insurgent groups active in India’s
North-east like United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA),
Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO),
Gurkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) and Gurkha Liberation Organisation
(GLO).

Though the exact nature
of the relationship is not known, the Maoists are also reported to have
some links with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)
in Sri Lanka. However, it is suspected that the Maoists have received
arms training from the LTTE operatives in the past and this may be continuing.
Links between these two may have been facilitated through the PWG, which
has a record of co-operation with the LTTE in arms procurement and training
(especially in the use of Improvised Explosive Devices). The arrest
of Chandra Prakash Gajurel alias Gaurab, a member of the Maoist politburo,
at Chennai airport in Tamil Nadu in August 2003 while trying to travel
to Europe to lobby for a political solution to the seven-year-old insurgency
in Nepal needs to be seen in this context.